If your house is leaking heat, an offshore oil rig is a spectacularly elaborate way to avoid looking at the window. It has machinery, investment figures and excellent opportunities for a minister to wear a hard hat. The window, unfortunately, only offers the possibility of fixing the problem.

The Guardian reports that research by E3G favors Britain's warm homes plan over new oil development for reducing living costs. The thinktank projects roughly 50,000 jobs and £1 billion in annual household bill savings from the plan, which faces possible cuts. Those are estimates, not money already sitting in anyone’s account. But they are at least estimates aimed at the household, a location sometimes overlooked when discussing household affordability.

The offshore developers dispute the broader economic picture, pointing to investment, jobs and tax revenue from their projects. Those claims deserve scrutiny rather than a ceremonial shredding. Workers in the industry are real people, not props to be packed away after a climate speech. The point is to compare benefits honestly, not to declare every job green or guilty and distribute matching stickers.

What drives me mad is the glamour imbalance. A vast industrial project arrives dressed as national destiny. Improving ordinary homes arrives dressed as spending that might need trimming. One gets a vision; the other gets a budget haircut. Apparently an investment becomes more serious in direct proportion to how difficult it is to see from the kitchen.

Our column on the IMF and British pensions examined another case of looking for savings in familiar domestic pockets. There is always something conveniently modest that can be reduced while the larger, more impressive interests explain why their numbers require reverence. A pensioner can put on a sweater. A corporate projection must remain at its preferred temperature.

New North Sea production would still be sold into international markets, as the Guardian notes. Planting a British flag on the supply does not instruct the global price to develop local manners. The oil costs that follow people beyond the petrol pump make this distinction especially important. Energy security is a real issue; pretending every new drilling proposal is a personalized household discount is a sales pitch wearing safety boots.

Insulation is politically disadvantaged because its best result is the absence of drama. A room stays comfortable. A bill is smaller. Nobody needs to announce that the living room has entered a transformative strategic partnership with the loft.

That sounds wonderful. Give me an administration capable of being boring in the service of a warmer house.

The oil rig can keep its presentation. The window is still open.